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Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Mississippi Roast, made using a rump or chuck roast, but with my own signature and minus the full stick of butter. A moist, tender and delicious roast with a wonderful gravy and a nice spicy bite.

Mississippi Roast ... My Way

There's a roast blazing across the interwebs and the world of Pinterest called "Mississippi Roast," and if you google it, you'll find it everywhere.

In the beginning of making this, like most others, I had no idea where the recipe began, or even how the recipe got the name Mississippi attached to it, because best I could figure, somebody who threw it together one day must have just happened to be from Mississippi.

Well, I'm here to set the record straight on that!

One day while watching GMA, lo and behold, there was Ripley, Mississippi resident Robin Chapman on my television, claiming ownership, stating that back in the 1990s her daddy's sister (yes, that's how she said it) gave her a similar recipe for a roast beef sandwich, but that it was highly spicy, so she altered it to make it milder for her children and this was the result.

It seems that the original recipe was likely the ever popular Three Envelope Roast everybody knows and loves, but Chapman made a swap, exchanging the Italian dressing for a packet of Ranch dressing. She says she actually never called her recipe "Mississippi Roast," just roast, but her lifelong best friend, Karen Farese, contributed the recipe to their hometown church cookbook, and Robin says that a blogger shared it from there, another blogger shared it, it made its way to Pinterest, and soon after went viral, gaining the name Mississippi Roast along the way, and making it one of the most popular recipes on the internet today.

Essentially, you add a raw chuck roast to a slow cooker, sprinkle an envelope of dry ranch dressing mix and envelope of au jus mix on top, and then you plop a full stick of butter on top, along with a 4 or 5 pepperoncini peppers, cover and cook on low for about 8 hours. No liquid is added at all. Just the butter, which ironically in the GMA segment, was not mentioned. GMA apparently picked up on this story from an article published by The New York Times of all places

Okay. Indeed, I am a lover of butter like anybody else, no doubt, and of course, you could add a stick of butter to just about anything and make it très délicieux, but even I think adding a full stick of butter to an already fatty chunk of beef might just be, well... a tiny bit excessive - yes, even for this Mississippian.

No offense meant to those of you who have tried the original Mississippi Roast and already love it, butter and all, but I was curious enough to give this a try. Minus the stick of butter. And with my own spin. And, well... if you enjoy cooking, you know how it goes. Once I got started adding my own signature to this Mississippi Roast... I just really couldn't help myself. Even Robin admits the recipe is easily modified, so I've taken her up on that!

Pickled jalapenos, golden peperoncini and giardiniera are all staples in my fridge, for one, because I love those Italian Beef Sandwiches. Golden peperoncini is a mild, sweet pepper with just a hint of heat, and giardiniera - often referred to as hot mix - usually contains hot peppers such as serrano, an extremely hot chile pepper, that provides a spicy kick for this roast. I didn't want it too spicy, so I put them in whole, just to add the flavor and a nice punch of heat. Puree the veggies and add those to the gravy for extra flavor if you like the heat.

To make up for the loss of butter, I thought the recipe could benefit from some little changes that don't take much time, but add lots of flavor. So I studded the roast with garlic.

I seared it, and sauteed some sliced onion in the drippings.

Added some chunks of celery to the crockpot. The original recipe is a basic dump recipe, just sprinkling the envelopes over the top of the roast, but I decided to whisk together the envelopes with a little Coke and some herbs. If you don't want the sweetness from the Coke, you can sub in beef broth, beer, wine or plain water.

Added a bay leaf, a whole pickled jalapeno, 4 golden peperoncini peppers and 1/2 cup of Italian mix giardiniera. Poured the seasoned Coke in, and left out the butter, adding only 1 tablespoon at the end, to finish the gravy. This roast does have a nice spicy bite to it. To make it milder, leave out the jalapeno and giardiniera, but the golden peperoncini will give it just a bump of heat, though you can certainly leave those out too.

Best. Pot Roast. EVER.

And, because it's not braised in anything but its own natural fat, it's much more sliceable, where the butter braised roast tends to shred.

One note. If you do decide to try the original with the full stick of butter, just leave out the liquid and be sure to use unsalted butter. There's plenty of sodium present in the packaged mixes, so don't be tempted to add any additional salt to the roast either. Here's how to make Mississippi Roast ... my way.

For more of my beef roast recipes, visit my page on Pinterest!

If you make this or any of my recipes, I'd love to see your results! Just snap a photo and hashtag it #DeepSouthDish on social media or tag me @deepsouthdish on Instagram!

Stud the roast by using the tip of a knife to cut multiple small slits in areas all over the meat and inserting slivers of garlic into each cut. Season roast on both sides with pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of fat or oil in a large skillet and brown roast on both sides. Add the celery chunks to the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker and place roast on top. Add onion to skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Transfer to top of the roast.

Meanwhile, whisk together the ranch dressing, gravy mix, thyme and rosemary. Add the Coke and whisk in until well blended; set aside. Add the bay leaf, whole jalapeno, peperoncini and giardiniera to the top of the roast and pour the Coke mixture over the top. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high 4 to 5 hours. Total time will be dependent on size of roast.

To thicken gravy, use a long fish spatula to remove the roast and loosely tent with foil to keep warm. Skim any excess fat off the top of the juices or use a gravy separator and carefully transfer the contents of the crockpot to a saucepan. Stir in the tablespoon of butter. Make a slurry of a tablespoon of cornstarch with just enough water to dissolve the cornstarch. Whisk into the gravy, bring up to a boil, reduce and simmer until thickened.

Electronic Pressure Cooker: Prepare as above, using browning setting on cooker if available. Return roast to the cooker, top with sauteed veggies and pour sauce all over. Cook using roast or high setting for 60 minutes, or until meat is fork tender. Let pressure release naturally. Remove roast and tent with foil to keep warm. Defat sauce and return to cooker or put in a saucepan on stovetop; bring to a boil. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water and slowly stir in, boiling until thickened. Pour over roast or serve in a gravy boat.

Cook's Notes: If you don't want the sweetness from the Coke, substitute 1 cup of water, low sodium beef broth, wine or beer, in place of it, or if you're adventurous, eliminate the liquid and add that whole stick of unsalted butter on top, like in the original "Mississippi Roast." There's plenty of sodium present in the packaged mixes, so use unsalted butter, and don't be tempted to add any additional salt to the roast, either way. This roast does have a nice spicy bite to it. Golden peperoncini are a milder, sweet pepper with just a hint of heat, but to make it milder leave them out, along with the jalapeno and giardiniera. Puree the veggies and add those to the gravy for extra flavor.

Variations: Also excellent on pork roast, ribs or chops. Cut one (3-1/2 to 4 pound) rack of baby back pork ribs, into 3 to 4 rib sections. Substitute garlic powder and season and brown ribs as above. Proceed with recipe, except substitute pork gravy mix. Cover and cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours. May also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and chicken gravy.

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

now Mary, that is a roast recipe - that gravy covered hunk of meat is tantalizing... there are so many elements in this recipe, as flavorful as Mississippian fare is, the name is just not enough - a perfected roast recipe if you ask me...

Oh Mary...you said the magic words in our house: Giardiniera and gravy! :) My husband is already in love with your 3 packet roast, this recipe will push him into full on swoon! Can't wait to make this one! Thanks for sharing another great recipe. The Cajun is one lucky man to have you cooking for him! :)

Thanks Chris! Lots of folks rave over the one with the butter & don't get me wrong - I certainly DO love butter!! But it just seemed unnecessary with this cut of beef. Thanks for the vote of confidence there!!

It did!! Course I love the aroma of beef searing in a pan too. And thanks so much Kandy. I'm no photographer by any stretch of the imagination but I do try to convey what the food at least looks like! Thank you.

Hey Libby!! I'm a Biloxi girl!! :) This roast really is good. The original has a stick of butter but frankly I thought that was too much and really unnecessary. I love butter, but this roast doesn't need that!!

18 degrees in Brooklyn, and this just came out of my slow cooker! Followed it almost to the letter, but forgot to buy Coke, so I used leftover beer and Diet Coke. Didn't slice as nice as yours, but it is delicious. All came out good with some everyday mash and buttered string beans.

We made the roast for Sunday lunch and it tastes amazing! I know that's a few hours away but it just smelled so good I had to sneak a bite. I am having to guard the crockpot to keep everyone else from doing the same :-) I used wine instead of Coke since we do not drink sodas and I left out the jalapeños because our kids do not like spicy foods, they must get that from their Yankee Dad lol. Absolutely fantastic!

Ms. Mary, what a find your website turned out to be. The recipe came out delicious and I'll be trying several other things my taste buds demand. Thank you, and kudos for the love and effort you put into your contribution. Ed in Florida.

Ms. Mary, this came out delicious. What a find your website turned out to be !!! I'll be trying several other things my taste buds demand. Thank you for the love and effort you put into your contribution. Edu in Florida.

This is my first time on this site and will put it on my faves. I have never heard of Mississippi roast. I have heard of putting Coke on a ham, that seems to be a southern thing, or any kind of soda. That ranch package is very salty, I wish they would put out a low sodium one. Thanks for mentioning a pickled jalopeno pepper, most recipes leave me hanging on that one. My pot roast is just a German one my grandma passed on down, A simple rump with vinegar, bay leaf and time. I can't wait to try this.

I for one will never make anything that is on Pinterest because I see hundreds of recipes with hundreds of people who say that it "Looks" good. No one but the author has made it but they "Look" at it and "Pin" it. That tells me that there of hundreds of recipes on Pinterest that are just pretty pictures. I have to admit that there were some tries on this recipe and it turned out good. But to try something on Pinterest NO WAY!

Actually, I think that the recipes that you see on Pinterest are pretty reliable and probably much more so than some of the recipe mine sites where folks who try the recipe may rate it, but it's very often rated on multiple changes that they made and not at all the original recipe that was posted to begin with. Pinterest is certainly far more reliable than Facebook where recipes are sometimes stolen from sites like mine and then ingredients are adjusted in the recipe text so that they can "legally" take it - without trying it with the adjustments of course! If the pretty picture links back to a recipe blog such as mine here where you can see what they have done step by step, or even you can tell by the overall collection of recipes on that same site, then I'd say you can pretty much rely on it being a good recipe. If it doesn't, it could be that the pretty picture belonged to somebody else to begin with and the recipe may not even match the photo and is likely unreliable.

I have to agree with you on this, as I have tried several of the recipes posted on pinterest and they were horrible ..... however, on the other hand, I have tried a lot of them and they were delicious. Think you just kinda have to judge for yourself what you think is going to be good by the ingredients and by who is posting them .... a lot of mine are taken from well known people and their own sites.

Geesh Mary, you're killing me ! This was the best roast I think I've ever had. I didn't use the optional giardiniera because Hubby didn't want me too and I added a whole bell pepper cut into large sections for easy removal and discard, but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. I've never heard of adding Coke to roast but I do sometimes cook my ham in a whole 2 liter of Coke. I never followed a recipe for roast I always just threw stuff in but from now on this will be my go to recipe. The whole family said it was delicious and asked me to use this recipe from now on. Your recipes are so good I have a folder for just Deep South Dish in my saves. The other recipes not from this site go into the usual categories. I wanted to be able to distinguish your recipes from the others easily. That is high praise but you deserve it! Thanks again for another absolutely delicious recipe! You are probably going to be tired of me posting comments on all these delicious recipes, but I can't stop myself haha!

Your website it my favorite ever!!!! I have made many of your recipes and they have all turned out perfect. I love everything Mississippi. My daughter n I are moving to the Biloxi area next year. She is going to southern miss next fall. And we cannot wait to immerse ourselves in the lifestyle. I can't wait till your cookbook comes out!! Plan on cooking every recipe in it!!!

Hi Mary, another great meal. Like you I like to experiment with recipes. I replaced the coke with red wine, added mushrooms and Rotel (medium), threw in a few potatoes & carrots and served over rice. That's the Cajun coming out of me. Thanks for your recipes!

Mary, am having so much fun with your site! Thank you SO MUCH. Dad hales from Blue Mountain, and you're bringing back Aunt Ruth's, A. Ophie's, and A. Orene's recipes for him - he is 96 this August. Have this one cooking right now and it already smells divine. The is a great way to use up the rock hard dressing mix in the bottom of the jar - really, a knife point wouldn't go through it. The coke didn't soften it either! Found that a 1/2 cup of the liquid mix and all the hard chunks microwaved, and stirred, worked to soften at least enough to break and mix in.Thought I'd pass along: a former spouse (eons back in my dumb youth days) moved my southern self to Idaho. Folks may not know this, but russets there grow bigger than footballs! Farmers can't sell that size, so they gave them away to anyone and everyone they knew. Locals will top baked potatoes with all sorts of things, but a favorite is any roast beef and gravy - and this dish has the spice to make that INCREDIBLE. Now I want to know...there's 1/2 cup coke leftover in the 12 oz can...do you perchance have a coke/beer can oven chicken recipe to go with it??? LOL

LOL - I was going to try the rotisserie recipe next! great idea to put them together. BUT DRAT, or rather yeah! hubby did the dishes and tossed out my coke can! The roast came out sweet to my tastes, think I'll try the wine or broth next time. There will be a next time!

Miss Mary, our local Food Lion had chuck roasts on sale 2 weeks ago and I picked up 2, one for this recipe and one for my famous beef stew. Both came out rock hard meat, touch and hard to cut. :o( well, it was dirt cheap protein...Just simmered the stew over twice as long, and it must be good because I haven't had any yet and it's almost all gone! :o( I was making this recipe ahead anyway, so I'm going to hunk up the roast, add some extra water & simmer on the back of the stove like we did the stew, then serve it over potatoes or rice, BECAUSE THIS JUS (bagged the meat and jus separate) is the most divine thing! Mistook the jus for a quart of ham drippings in the back of the fridge and just added some to a pot of pinto beans I'm cooking up before licking my finger and realizing my error. Now THEY SMELL DIVINE TOO! (((must go buy more ranch mix)))) (((does anyone have a cheat on ranch mix?))))

Oh Bonita, you just brightened up my night!! Isn't it strange how some cuts of meat can be tough as a nail? I've had that too. You just have to let it sloooow simmer forever is all & make sure it doesn't boil. I usually keep ranch mix on hand but a cheat for a packet of homemade Ranch dressing mix is 1 teaspoon of minced onion, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/2 tablespoon of dried parsley.

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